They were quiet on the way back.

June Lyns (how she was coming to hate that name) usually considered herself composed. It was a skill she had worked on with dedication and focus, given her condition. Still, the current situation was rather testing her composure.

The drones around them whispered to each other occasionally, although when she tried to listen in, it was only half-snatches of conversation more often than not. Presumably, they were speaking over their psychic link. She wondered what that would be like, then paused and pushed the thought away.

The Hive Queen herself was looking off into the distance with a slightly unfocused gaze, and June assumed she was also using this link, presumably to talk to other drones or check on the operations of her Hive. She knew Regina was usually busy ruling her people, which made their lessons irregular.

That was another thing she would never have expected before being sent to the Starlit Hive as a hostage. Not that she would complain, far from it. Her master was possibly the most ‘badass’ (was she using that word right? A few of the drones liked it) mage in the country. In several countries, perhaps. She clearly had intimate knowledge of the Ancients, whom the Delvers would call the Progenitors, and their secrets. Since coming here, June had learned less about magic than she’d expected and a lot more about natural philosophy and the world around her.

She was aware that her expectations might be just a tiny bit biased. Kiara had teased her about it enough. But she finally had a master, a magical teacher! She’d barely dared to hope for one before. And, true, a demihuman queen wasn’t quite the most common such figure in the stories, but it wasn’t like it was completely unheard of, and this was better than a story anyway.

June actually felt healthy, for the first time in years. She had been consistently feeling healthy for weeks, which she’d seldom experienced before. Of course she was feeling just a bit energetic, who wouldn’t?

However, these thoughts didn’t quite manage to distract her from the revelations her teacher and Lady Galatea had just dumped on her. Or on the both of them, to be fair.

She couldn’t even guess how Regina felt about this. June barely knew how she herself felt about it. As much as she liked the Hive, the thought of joining them in some kind of … ‘hivemind’ was the word Galatea had used … filled her with more than a bit of trepidation. She was not sure whether she would do it if it was the only way to be healed, and she’d rather explore other options first, if only to have the options. After all, with the regular healing, and being taught how to do it on her own soon enough, her quality of life was already improved to the level it would not make much of a difference in practice.

She was jolted out of those ruminations, knowing she’d chased the same thoughts around and around several times, when they finally returned. Even the short flight back didn’t manage to distract her too much. Flying was wonderful, certainly, but she was starting to think everything could lose its shine and become mundane once you did it several times.

"Let’s go talk to your mother,” Regina said quietly, distracting June from her thoughts.

She nodded and fell into step beside the Hive Queen as they went towards Neralt’s mansion, every drone or villager in their path stepping out of her way. Regina barely appeared to acknowledge them, staring forward fixedly.

Her mother evidently realized something was wrong as soon as they all met in the parlor. She took one look at June and her hand rose slightly before she forced it down to clasp her hands. “June. Your Majesty. I hope your ‘field trip’ was successful.”

“It was certainly interesting,” Regina muttered. Then she gave her a brief smile. “I’d say so, yes.”

“Was there a complication with her illness?” she asked. “Did it get worse?”

“No, but we found some hints on what causes it,” Regina answered. “Lady Florance, this is a blunt question, but did you happen to spend any significant length of time underground, close to the ruins of Anberg? Or any other place with non-conventional mana? Especially around June’s birth or shortly after it?”

Her mother blinked in surprise. “Underground? You think her illness was caused by …” she trailed off, frowning.

“Mother?” June asked.

“No, I did not,” she answered, shaking her head. She hesitated for a moment, her gaze flicking to Regina, before she sighed. “I did spend some time around another such place, although this was years ago, before any of my children’s birth. I also came in contact with an artifact from there, although I did not spend enough time in its presence to cause any trouble, I do not think.”

June clenched her jaw to keep herself from asking questions. She knew she should do that later, in private, and not interrupt the Hive Queen, even if she burned to question her mother about this revelation. For her part, Regina frowned and clearly bit down on her first reaction, too. “An artifact?” she asked.

“I never did find out its purpose, and I doubt anyone else did, but it’s destroyed now.”

Regina nodded slowly. “The other option is some kind of attack,” she said then. “Someone most likely slipping something to your daughters or even yourself, Lady Florance.”

Florance paled just a little. “Truly? I did not notice something like this — although I suppose I wouldn’t have.” She hesitated again, shaking her head. “I will have to search some records and ask a few people if they might remember something I am missing.”

Regina nodded. “Do that. We’ll carry or send any of your letters necessary for it. Was June sickly since birth?”

“Yes, that is why I never suspected foul play, at least not seriously.”

Well, this was going nowhere.

Her teacher evidently agreed, as she only traded a few more assurances with her mother before excusing herself. June lingered for a moment, glancing at her mother, before she did likewise, hurrying after Regina.

The Hive Queen slowed as she entered the village, turning to look at June and raising an eyebrow, but didn’t comment.

“The Delvers are probably the most likely ones to know more or to be able to help, considering what their whole deal is,” she finally said after they walked in silence for a minute. “I will see what I can do in my next dealings with them.”

“I appreciate it, Master,” June answered. She paused. “May I ask how things are going?”

“With the Delvers? We have not had much contact since the last events you must have heard about.”

“Well, that too, but I was mostly interested in the overall situation,” June said. “How is the war going, if I might ask, Your Majesty?”

"Of course you may. You have a right to know, if anyone here does.”

June couldn’t help but smile widely at that response. One of the best things about Regina was that she took her seriously, and treated her like an adult, not just a crippled girl. At the moment, she appeared to take a second to marshal her thoughts before she continued answering June’s question.

“The war is going reasonably well,” Regina said. “Honestly, if I wasn’t - well, you know - I would probably be overjoyed, but I suppose I have high expectations. We’ve beaten King Nicholas already, taking out one of three enemies completely. The Esemen are the weakest remaining force, and they’ve been playing defensively. There have been skirmishes but no major battles. Actually, if we wanted to, we could easily assault them and at minimum drive them off, but Ben and I have been cautious so far. If nothing else, they have the diplomat I sent with them, and I have to admit I’m kind of curious about what they’re intending. I’m sure you’ve heard who went?”

“Lady Marianne?” June asked. It was a shame that the older lady was gone, she was nice. Hopefully, she would be safe.

“Yes,” Regina confirmed, her eyes narrowing slightly. “There’s also one of my sapient drones, Ria, who they’ve taken deeper into the country, beyond my reach.” She shook her head.

“And Nerlia?”

Regina brightened, starting to smile. “They’re out of the war. Not quite for good, but close enough, unless they suddenly turn around completely. They’ve basically surrendered already.”

June stopped, staring at her teacher for a moment. “Really? Nerlia lost?”

“Of course,” Regina said, a hint of pride in her voice. June was not certain if it was aimed at her hive, specific drones, or for herself. “They’ve been getting their backsides kicked since we entered the war. Even with me holding back, there’s pretty much nothing they can do about that. I assume the bigger challenge is going to be actually handling them, after winning.”

“So, there are going to be negotiations? Peace talks?”

Regina nodded. “We’ll work things out. I’m confident I’ll get what I need.”

“And what is that? What are your aims? If I may ask, Your Majesty,” June added quickly.

Regina fell silent for a few seconds, perhaps considering if she wanted to indulge the question. They were leaving the bounds of the village behind, moving towards the hive’s structures.

“Be honest, June; you value me as a teacher, perhaps admire me, and like to think of me being your master, don’t you?”

June blinked at the non-sequitur. “Well, yes,” she answered, ducking her head and avoiding Regina’s gaze, although she had to peek at her after a moment. What brought this on?

The Hive Queen was staring into the distance with a slightly distant look, but it wasn’t the same as when she was deeply immersed in the hive link. “It’s a bit of a surprise, to be frank,” she said. “I’m aware of how I act and react to things in this place. I must seem like an arrogant bitch to others. I suppose I am an arrogant bitch.”

June frowned. “I don’t think I follow, Master,” she admitted.

Regina sighed and met her gaze again. “I’m talking about why I feel like that, June,” she explained. There was a note in her voice June had rarely heard before. She sounded … tired, or something close to it. “This entire place —“ She swept her arm out, gesturing around them, and June realized she wasn’t talking simply about the village. Or even the country. “This is so backward, in more sense than one. I’m not sure how much patriotic pride you feel - hell, I’m not sure if that concept is really a thing here and now - but your country is a barbaric, backward shithole, June. Not that the others are much better. Not even the elves or gnomes — and isn’t that a little ironic, that they’re actually further progressed than the human nations around here.” She sighed.

June licked her lips. “You want to … uplift the land?” she asked hesitantly.

“I want the world to start making some goddamn sense again, ideally, but really, I suppose I do want to make things better. There’s a little more to it, of course …” She frowned, then seemed to decide not to voice whatever thought she had. “It’s a contradiction in terms, in a way … my country was a democracy. Becoming a tyrant to try and force social progress would be really ironic. But what else is there — if I do nothing, then this stays like it is. I’ll have to find some middle ground. Assuming I still care.”

June stayed quiet for a while. They were slowing down and coming to a stop as they talked, outside the actual hive outpost, where few people were around to hear them. She thought she could roughly understand what Regina was getting at, but …

“What makes it your decision to make?” she asked, trying to put her finger on it.

“Good question,” Regina said softly. Then she looked up, steel in her eyes. “I am the last person who survives from before the Cataclysm,” she began.

“And what about all of us who are alive now?” June interrupted, challenging.

“Obviously, you’re the people living today. But I’m the one who remembers what we lost, who lost and might be able to bring something back. And at some point, my making choices that affect everyone else is not the same issue. Ask yourself this, June: If everyone here was given the choice, if it was sufficiently explained and they fully understood, would most of them rather choose to live in the current world or the one in my head?”

June paused. “I don’t know,” she said slowly. “Would we?”

Regina sighed, turning to look at the fields surrounding the village. “When I was human, just the idea of people possibly dying because they didn’t have enough to eat was unthinkable, something for far-off third-world countries. Outbreaks of easily curable diseases like cholera might maybe happen after a great natural disaster, not just bad luck in a normal year. Of course, ours was one of the richest countries in the world and my background was apparently privileged, so I’m a bit biased.” She raised her shoulders. “Still, the point stands. And these are only the very basics, there’s so much more. Education — not just reading and writing, but everyone actually learning about the world around them. Connection, the ability to communicate with people all around the world, and to collect and access the gathered knowledge of humanity. And social issues, too. In principle, everyone could live as themselves and be who they wanted.”

She paused again, glancing back at June. “This is kind of a bad button to push, and I’m sorry, but as an example that might help you understand … In my home, your sister could love who she wanted to freely without fear of persecution.” Regina shrugged. “And of course, neither of you would be pushed aside by a baby because he just happened to have the wrong gender,” she added as if an afterthought.

June swallowed hard. Put this way, she thought she could understand where Regina was coming from. It is a fanciful dream she weaves … but is that all there is to it?

June noticed that she was picking apart the edge of her shirt’s sleeve and made herself stop. She could already tell that she would spend many a sleepless night mulling over this conversation. She was not entirely sure how she felt about it, yet. Although it was somewhat reassuring to have the Hive Queen bare her heart to her like this.

“Can I help?” she finally asked, almost without intending to.

Regina seemed surprised at her question. “If you really want to? I’m sure you could. But I recommend you take some time to think things over, June.”

June nodded. “That might be a good idea, Master. I will do that.”

Regina gave her a small smile before she turned to head into the Hive’s base.